Hurricane Michael Turns St. Petersburg Sky Eerie Purple
May 31, 2026Updated: May 31, 2026, 8:41 am EDTPublished: May 29, 2026, 1:03 pm EDT

On October 10, 2018, residents of St. Petersburg, Florida witnessed a stunning and eerie natural phenomenon as Hurricane Michael approached Florida's panhandle. The Category 5 hurricane created an otherworldly purple sky over the city through a rare atmospheric event. When the storm began to leave the area, it left behind extraordinary amounts of moisture in the air. Combined with the right cloud cover conditions, this created a spectacular purple sky.